Sakarya University contributes to national hunger solutions by translating research, facilities, and procurement policies into practical access for producers and households, while convening sector events and mobilising emergency food support so that knowledge, technology, and resources flow where they are most needed. In 2024, Food Engineering units advanced affordable protein research with a press-reported plant-based egg alternative designed as a low-cost, shelf-stable option for households facing price volatility, and a TÜBİTAK 1001 project underscored the national relevance of lines of inquiry focused on nutrient efficiency, food safety, and spoilage reduction, demonstrating a pipeline from laboratory innovation to population-level nutrition benefit.
Faculty—particularly in the Department of Food Engineering—provide farmers and food producers with sustained access to food security and sustainable agriculture knowledge, skills, and appropriate technologies by conducting applied pest management studies that reduce crop losses and by delivering regular seminars, panels, and meetings on sustainable methods and technologies. Farmer demands, regional expectations, and local needs shape R&D agendas so that solutions remain practice-ready and responsive to producer realities; in 2024 this responsive pipeline was maintained through targeted outreach, technical guidance, and rapid circulation of new findings to the field.
Access to facilities is formalised and practical. Local farmers and food producers can use university laboratories, specialised equipment, and plant stocks by submitting project requests through Technocity (Teknokent) or the Scientific Research Projects Unit; in response, cross-disciplinary R&D teams of faculty and research assistants are constituted to scope needs, design applied studies, and implement solutions that improve sustainable farming practices at scale. The Plant Tissue Culture Research and Production Laboratory—established in cooperation with the Sakarya Chamber of Commerce and Industry—focuses on mass production of commercially important plants under aseptic conditions; programmes diversify according to producer demand, accelerating dissemination of resilient varieties and enabling more predictable yields under changing conditions, which directly supports national food availability.
This facilities backbone is complemented by a portfolio of research and application laboratories whose outputs are transferred back to producers through seminars and press briefings so that evidence moves swiftly from bench to farm and factory. The Food Analysis Laboratory, Milk and Dairy Products Technology Laboratory, Food Packaging and Preservation Laboratory, Food Biotechnology Laboratory, Food Microbiology Laboratory, and the Sustainable Food Processing Laboratory collectively advance methods for quality assurance, hygiene, reduced spoilage, and nutrient stability; in 2024, these labs supported guidance and technologies that producers could adopt without prohibitive cost, aligning scientific standards with field feasibility.
The University also convenes events that connect local farmers and producers for knowledge transfer and market-research matchmaking on an annual cycle. The International Ornamental Plants Festival—sponsored and partnered by Sakarya University and held every year in Sakarya—brings together shrub and tree producers; plant nutrition and spraying suppliers; irrigation and lighting firms; pot manufacturers; design and application offices; local governments; public institutions; large construction companies; and landscape architects, creating a dense exchange on sustainable techniques and access to quality inputs and services. In parallel, the University partners with the International Landscape, Ornamental Plants, Garden Arts, and Equipment Fair, and has been a regular partner of the Sakarya Agriculture, Livestock, Machinery, and Feed Technologies Fair since 2018; in 2024 these platforms again enabled repeated, predictable opportunities for rapid diffusion of improved practices that raise yields and reduce waste.
Institutional purchasing policies strengthen regional resilience by prioritising products from local and sustainable sources through both direct purchases and tenders. Sustainability conditions are written into specifications for relevant categories, and canteens and cafeterias procure from local producers to shorten supply chains, increase traceability and freshness, and support regional livelihoods. By embedding local, sustainable sourcing in everyday operations, the University models responsible consumption and signals demand that makes sustainable producer practices economically viable at regional scale.
Community-level access complements producer-facing services through inclusive shared meals that meet immediate needs. In Ramadan 2024, the University collaborated with the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality to support large-scale public iftar programmes that extended reliable evening nutrition to low-income families and vulnerable groups citywide; these shared meals reduced isolation, strengthened social cohesion, and demonstrated how municipal-university partnerships can protect household food security during periods of heightened pressure.
Rapid crisis mobilisation extends the University's national contribution to hunger relief in emergencies. Following the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, voluntary and institutional actions provided in-kind and financial aid, psychosocial services, and research projects for regional reconstruction; community programmes created child-friendly spaces and inclusive shared meals that restored social support networks. This capability to pivot from routine operations to coordinated, evidence-based emergency food protection illustrates how an academic institution can bridge humanitarian response and longer-term recovery while retaining scientific standards for safety and effectiveness.
Systems integration ensures that innovation reaches practice and policy. Laboratory research and TÜBİTAK-backed projects generate affordable, nutritionally valuable options that can be scaled through producer partnerships; pest management studies and on-demand R&D teams translate evidence into farm-level improvements that reduce post-harvest losses; sector fairs and policy dialogues, including TOKAS (Social Contribution and Sustainability Office), connect households, producers, and policymakers to refine delivery models; local and sustainable procurement turns purchasing power into a lever for resilience; and emergency mobilisation informs durable reconstruction strategies. In 2024, these streams worked in concert so that the University could answer, in a verifiable and comprehensive way, the core national hunger questions: it provides farmers and producers access to knowledge, skills, and technology; it organises and partners in events that connect and transfer knowledge; it opens facilities—laboratories, technology, and plant stocks—through formal pathways that lead to applied solutions; and it prioritises purchasing from local, sustainable sources that stabilise regional food systems while modelling responsible consumption.
